1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a compact cooking appliance capable of convection heating with other heating techniques to perform a cooking operation.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There exists a wide range of cooking appliances on the market. Many of these cooking appliances are designed for use in cooking various types of food products in different ways. For instance, where more conventional cooking appliances generally relied upon radiant energy as the sole heat source, more recent trends combine a radiant heat source with convection or microwave heating techniques, thereby increasing the versatility of the cooking appliance while potentially shortening required cook times. In particular, the prior art contains many examples of at least appliances that combine radiant and convection cooking, as well as combination convection and microwave cooking, techniques.
Regardless of the existence of these known arrangements, there still exists a need for a cooking appliance that employ multiple heating techniques in an efficient and effective manner to handle a wide range of food items. Particularly, there exists a need for a cooking appliance that can be used to rapidly prepare food products that require numerous different heat sources for full and complete cooking in an expedited manner. For example, the rapid preparation of commercially produced, open-faced grilled sandwiches raises various cooking concerns. Open-faced grilled sandwiches generally require, at the very least, that heat be directed both downward onto an upper portion of the sandwich and upward onto a lower bun portion of the sandwich. In most cases this is accomplished by passing the open-faced sandwich on a conveyor belt through an oven between opposing radiant heat sources. While effective to a degree, the process can be time consuming and really does not result in a uniform heating of the meat, cheese and/or other toppings on the bread, nor an even toasting of the bread itself.
In addition, a dual radiant oven of the type described above is simply not suitable for many other applications. For instance, an additional microwave oven or the like would typically be employed to heat soup or other liquid-based food items. To address this and other concerns, it has also been proposed in the prior art to combine each of radiant, convection and microwave energy sources in a compact, versatile cooking appliance. Such a prior art arrangement is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,235,763.
Regardless of the variety of known cooking appliances, there exists the need for a versatile cooking appliance that employs at least convection cooking and enhanced airflow features that enable a wide range of food items to be rapidly and effectively cooked. In connection with the airflow design, the manner in which the air is directed upon the food affects the browning, crispness and other characteristics of the food. Typical results with prior art yields food items with areas of increased browning compared to other areas of the food item. These areas of increased browning correspond to air nozzle location. Typical results yield a food item with a pattern of circular areas that visually have significantly more browning than the surrounding areas of the food item. The invention addresses this problem.